AMJ Financial Blog

Tag Archive: Barrons

How do you measure stock market valuation? If you look at conventional measures – like price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios – then U.S. stock markets appear to be pricey. The Wall Street Journal reported trailing 12-month P/E ratios are high when compared to 10-year averages. High P/E ratios haven’t dampened investors’ interest in U.S. stocks, and share… Read More

Share this site:

The Markets The British may be leaving. The British may be leaving. Last week, the interest rate on 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped to levels last seen in 2013. Why, you may ask, would bond yields move lower when Federal Reserve policy is to push interest rates higher? The answer can be found across the… Read More

Share this site:

The Markets A mobile trivia game maker recently assessed the playing habits of Americans and identified the most popular topics by state. As it turns out, Alabamians like college football questions, Alaskans like queries about U.S. states, Rhode Island natives prefer inquiries about the human body, and Wisconsinites love their Green Bay Packers. We think… Read More

Stim-u-late mar-kets! Come on! It’s monetary easing.* The European Central Bank (ECB) was singing a tune that invigorated financial markets last week. The Wall Street Journal explained: “The fresh measures included cuts to all three of the ECB’s main interest rates, €20 billion a month of additional bond purchases atop the ECB’s current €60… Read More

The Markets And the economic data says… The United States economy is doing pretty well. So well that a March rate hike by the Federal Reserve is not entirely out of the question. Barron’s described the situation like this: “Squawking pessimism can’t drown out what is a very respectable start to 2016. Economic data so… Read More

Share this site:

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) started the New Year with a downward currency adjustment and fireworks followed. Last week, three distinct issues affected China’s stock market. First, the PBOC’s devaluation of the yuan (a.k.a. the renminbi), along with the knowledge the central bank had been spending heavily to prop up its currency in recent… Read More

It was a short week, but it wasn’t quiet. Oil prices moved higher, according to The Wall Street Journal, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported crude-oil inventories fell unexpectedly last year. Analysts had predicted oil supplies would rise. One expert cited by The Wall Street Journal suggested the stockpile decline and subsequent oil price… Read More

Share this site:

And, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said… U.S. job growth surpassed expectations in October. About 271,000 jobs were created across diverse industries: professional and business services, health care, retail, construction, and others. That was a significantly higher number than predicted by economists who participated in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal. They… Read More

Share this site:

The Markets How quickly emotions have changed since August. Worry? Angst? It’s already priced into the markets, according to some experts. Last week, Barron’s published the results of its Big Money Poll, a biannual survey of professional investors and money managers. A majority of those surveyed (55 percent) were bullish about U.S. markets’ prospects through June… Read More

They’re investors. They’re allowed to change their minds. Just a few weeks ago, on September 17, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to leave the fed funds rate unchanged. In part, this was because, “Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure… Read More